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ZARA
Rhys stayed with me yesterday until Ruby came back home. After the heavy conversation about his mother and the Axis, he made an effort to keep things light. While I appreciated the consideration, I didn’t like how a side of him shut down. He packed away all the darkness of his past and pasted on a cheerful smile. It was still nice spending time with him, but it felt as if I was with a flattened version.
It was for the best, I’m sure. I had my own details to digest. Rhys said that his friends were in the process of forming an Axis, and he believed I was its eighth member. Having grown up in Fairy, with practically no magic at all, the idea sounds ridiculous. The High Fae can command the elements and create potions so strong one drop can kill a man. They can slip in and out of shadows, traveling distances in the blink of an eye. I can’t do any of that.
A thought nudges the back of my mind, telling me I’m not being totally honest with myself. I have my intuition. My instinct has always protected me. I know things before they came to pass, and I’ve had dreams that have come true. Maybe I never wanted to think about that as being magic, but there are those in the Summer Court with the magic of premonition. There hasn’t been a powerful seer in ages, but there are some who, like me, sense when trouble is coming.
I’m alone at Ruby’s apartment tonight. Well, me and Axil. Rhys tried to convince me to join them at the Beltane festival, but I’m not ready to be in the middle of a big crowd. Before she left, Ruby called me a chicken and told me I have to leave the house, eventually. I know she’s right. I can’t stay holed up, taking advantage of Ruby’s hospitality for the rest of my life.
It’s true, I am a coward. I’m not ready to be around a bunch of strangers. The thought brings me back to the night of Ostara, in the Duke’s ballroom. When the Fae surrounded me, their fingers pressing into my arms so hard they left bruises behind. The jeers, the sneering faces, I just can’t.
There’s been a buzz under my skin, the warning that makes my heart throb. It’s been coming and going all day. The beginnings of a premonition that something bad was coming tonight flitted around inside me. I wanted to say something to Ruby, but what would I tell her? That I had a gut feeling but no details or other information to share?
I’m sure they already think I’m half-crazy since I haven’t left Ruby’s since I got here. If I declared I had a bad feeling about the night, they’d only write me off.
I’ve been sleeping on Ruby’s couch even though she insisted I take her bed. I couldn’t kick her out of her own space and refused. The couch is made up with a sheet and pillow and I’ve been trying to sleep, but it’s pointless. I’m too anxious.
It’s late. Much later than when the festival was supposed to be over. I’m not here to scold Ruby over coming home late, but worry has my skin tingling. There is no way I can fall asleep. I keep getting up to look out the window, Axil huffing at me through sleepy eyes every time I disturb his peaceful slumber.
My nails have been bitten down to the quick, a bad habit I broke years ago that reared its head tonight. Axil lifts his head from his paws and his tail thumps against the ground. The crunch of tires has me jumping off the couch and dashing over to the window. My sigh of relief is so loud, it’s only then that I realize how much I’ve already come to care for Ruby. The thought of something happening to her is unbearable.
The door opens, and Ruby’s entry is stalled by Axil greeting her. She coos and says some nonsense to him while petting him before she straightens up with a groan.
“What happened?” I gasp, my hand trembling as it covers my mouth. Ruby’s shirt is streaked with blood.
“Why are you still awake?” Ruby frowns at me as she shoos Axil back so she can close the door.
“I couldn’t sleep. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” My voice is getting more panicked with each second that passes. Ruby must realize I’m starting to lose it because she crosses the room to stand in front of me. Her hands land on my shoulders and she looks at me. There’s blood on her hands and neck, too.
“I’m fine. This isn’t my blood. It’s okay. Archer was just stabbed and then bonded with Lena.”
I gape at her, uncertain I heard her correctly. “What?”
“Not my blood. Everything is fine.”
I shake my head because nothing can be fine if what she said is true. “Archer was stabbed?”
“Oh, that. Yeah. It was bad, but Lena healed him.” Ruby drops her hands and makes her way into the kitchen, leaving me to trail behind her like a lost kitten. She washes her hands as if having them stained with her friend’s blood is an everyday occurrence.
“Who stabbed him?”
“Some asshole who’s going to get castrated sometime very soon.”
I sag against the wall, watching as Ruby roughly scrubs her hands. The water is so hot steam billows up from the sink.
“Does this kind of thing happen a lot here?” Maybe I’ve left the horrible oppression of Fairy to come live in a lawless land where people get stabbed on the daily.
“It never used to,” Ruby murmurs, more to herself. Her skin is bright red, and she’s still scouring her hands as if there’s blood left to clean away. I walk to the sink and turn off the faucet. Pulling a towel out of the drawer next to me, I wrap it around Ruby’s hands and pat them dry.
“They’re clean now.”
Ruby stares at me, but I don’t think she sees me. There are demons in her past, too. And I think she’s fighting them off right now.
“I’m going to go get changed.”
But she doesn’t move. Instead, she speaks in an unemotional tone. “There are Fae here, and they want us to form this magical group to get them home.”
“The Axis?” I say and Ruby startles. “Rhys told me about it yesterday.”
Ruby nods, still looking lost. “They need us, so I’m not really afraid of them. Except tonight… We can’t let them rule us, dictate how we live. No one should have that power over us.” Some of the fire seeps back into Ruby’s eyes. “That’s why you can’t keep hiding out here. You need to start living, Zara. The Fae have already stolen part of your life. Don’t let fear allow them to keep taking those pieces away.”
Ruby side steps and walks around me, leaving me in the kitchen to take in everything she just told me. Her friend was just stabbed, and I think Ruby hasn’t fully accepted what happened tonight. Logically, I understand what she’s saying. I can’t stay locked away in her house forever, but it’s hard to get over years of living small. Of always staying out of the way, trying to be invisible and quiet.
Ruby doesn’t say anything else as she heads to the bathroom. I huddle in the corner of the couch with a show playing quietly on the TV. The light flickers across the room while Ruby’s words play on a loop in my head. I’ve spent my life with my head down, doing my best to remain unseen. I have done nothing but hide for twenty-five years.
The sound of the bathroom door opening, followed a few seconds later by Ruby’s bedroom door closing, tells me she’s not coming back out tonight. Shifting so my feet touch the ground, I hesitate, mentally listing all the reasons this is a bad idea. Axil’s still out in the living room with me and I hold out my hand. He nudges it with his nose.
“Want to go for a walk with me?”
